Räikkönen rues lack of speed
Kimi Räikkönen conceded he got the maximum out of his Ferrari in the qualifying for the American GP, but the car was not competitive enough compared to the Italian team’s fierce rivals Mercedes and Red Bull.
The Finn was shocked by the time difference compared to Ferrari’s rivals. He revealed that his laps were ideal and the alarming gap was real.
“Obviously we cannot be pleased with where we finished today, looking at the time difference to the front. We did what we could, but our position on the grid is far from ideal. This is the reality today and now we have to be stronger in the race.”
The Espoo-born driver was delighted with the setup of his SF16-H after Friday’s balance woes. He, however, cannot understand why the car lacked so much of speed.
“Yesterday we struggled a bit to find the right set up: we changed small things here and there and today the handling of the car was pretty good. We lack speed in the lap and to go faster we need more overall grip.”
The now 37-year-old completed quite strong long runs during Friday’s free practice sessions which indicated that Ferrari should pick up the pace once it comes to race speed.
“Tomorrow is going to be a long race, the long run was not too bad, so I expect the car we had today to be better tomorrow. For sure we are going to do our best and hopefully we are going to have a strong race,” Räikkönen sounded hopeful.
